We had to catch a car ferry to Sicily, which cost all of €1, our cheapest transport to date. Arriving in Messina, the port town was more akin to arriving in an Asian city. It was complete chaos. We were dodging scooters and being passed by cars two abreast. We even rode past a few people on horse and carts. It is totally different to the north of Italy.
Leaving Messina, we rode south along the east coast to stop in a small village called San Alessi. We pitched our tent 5m from the sea and looked around amazed that we were sharing the campsite with only a few other people. Bliss..
We were even more impressed when the groundskeeper gave us a table and chairs to sit at...this is southern hospitality at its best. Table and chairs are like obtaining the holy grail when we have been hunching on our Malaysian mat for 3 months!
So we enjoyed meals overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, especially breakfast where we faced the sunrise. The little village became our second home, we shopped at the local produce shops with the old ladies. Nick rose at the crack of dawn to get fresh bread and biscotti to enjoy with fresh coffee at our.....table!!
Our campsite was sitting in the shadows of Mt Etna, Europes largest active volcano, so we took the opportunity to ride around her slopes. We took off expecting to climb the 1900m to the summit but unfortunately cloud came in and restricted our view so we couldnt make it to the top.
Sicilian Switchbacks
We ended up staying for a week before venturing back to the mainland. This time we did it in style with a passenger ferry direct to Salerno (near Naples). We were part of only about 20 passengers on this huge boat. The rest was made up of trucks and truck drivers. But suprisingly the boat was newly rennovated and was like having a cruise liner to ourselves!!
Now we are cycling to the Amalfi coast and onto Naples.
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